


Mother's Daughter

by maealbert



Series: Mother's Daughter [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Gen, Mom - Freeform, Mother's Daughter, daughter - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:07:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28879965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maealbert/pseuds/maealbert
Summary: After shoving Rossi out of the way of an intended hit and run that strikes Catherine instead, memories are relived as Catherine lies in the hospital in a coma.
Series: Mother's Daughter [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2117955
Kudos: 2





	1. Mother's Intuition

**Author's Note:**

> Please read, Hold on Tight, to get a glimpse of Emily and Catherine's relationship.

December 2021

The day started like any other day. Emily waking up in her apartment. Her phone’s alarm blaring in her ear reminding her that it’s Monday and if she doesn’t go into work, the team will end up blowing up her phone all day.

Dragging herself out of bed, she goes to take a shower. Everything still seemed normal. Getting dressed, after her shower, she sends a message to Catie. The normal ‘Good morning, hope you have a good day’ text she sends every morning. She got a quick response back.

‘Good morning! Have a good day too! Are we still on for dinner tonight? I was thinking of ordering in instead of going out. Is that okay?’

Slipping on her sweater, Emily grabs her phone and sends a message back. ‘Sounds good to me. Chinese or Mexican?’ She puts her phone down and goes back to getting dressed.

Her phone buzzes again on the dresser. ‘You had to ask? You know I can’t say ‘no’ to Mexican.’

Emily chuckles before responding back. ‘Mexican it is. I’m off at seven so I’ll swing by Pollo Loco and pick up the food and meet you back at my place.’

‘Awesome. I’ll see you then.’ Catie quickly responds back.

Still.. Everything seemed normal.

//

Arriving at the office, Emily makes her way through the bullpen and up to her office. Settling down at her desk, she grabs a few file folders and gets to work. However, there was this feeling nagging her. Like something’s supposed to happen, or going to happen.

All day she couldn’t stop that nagging feeling. She couldn’t get it to go away. But the day continued to go on as normal. The usual bicker and banter between Luke and Garcia over the phone even though they’re in a relationship together. The normal catching up conversations with JJ. The daily afternoon check in texts with Andrew. Since he went back to Denver, they’ve been trying to talk as often as possible besides the check in texts. Andrew knew how stressed and annoyed Emily could get the deeper she dug into her paperwork, so he’d make sure to have her talk about it and relax for a while. It mostly took place during her lunch break so she could relax and breathe.

“What do you mean something’s gonna happen?” Andrew questions.

“I don’t know.. It’s kind of like this feeling I get.. I mostly got it with Catie. Like I knew something would happen and I could stop it before it did. For example, when Catie was two. She and I were sitting on the couch watching movies. I fell asleep through half one and for some reason, my body knew she was going to fall off the couch. Immediately, I sat up and grabbed her just as she was about to topple over. Had she fell, she would’ve cracked her head open on the coffee table.”

“So you think it’s mother’s intuition telling you that something is gonna happen to Catie?” Andrew questions.

“I don’t know… Maybe? I mean.. She seemed okay this morning when we were discussing our dinner plans for tonight.. But it’s just this nagging feeling and it won’t leave me alone.”

Andrew sighs. “Emily, I’m sure she’s fine. When was the last time you spoke to her? This morning?”

“No, she called not too long ago asking if I wanted wine tonight with dinner.”

“And?”

Emily sighs. “I guess she sounded fine.”

“See? Then there’s nothing to worry about.” Andrew says.

“You really think I’m crazy?”

“I never said that.”

“No, but you’re thinking it.”

“Emily, it’s perfectly fine to worry about your daughter. I worry about Keely all the time. It’s normal.”

A knock comes on the door and JJ peers his head in. “Andrew, I gotta go. I’ll call you later.” She says before hanging up. “What’s up, Jayge?”

“Do you know where Rossi is?” JJ asks. “Krystall's here. Said they were supposed to meet for lunch.”

“Oh yeah, he said he had to run out to pick up their lunch. He should be back soon.” Emily says. “She can wait in his office, if she’d like.”

JJ nods her head. “I will let her know.”

//

Catie climbs out of her car and locks the doors before making her way to the sidewalk and into the coffeeshop. “Well hey there Catie!” The barista calls from behind the counter. “Here for your usual?”

“Yes,” Catie says, nodding her head. “But I was also hoping you had any of those strawberry crepes? I’m having dinner with my mom tonight and I thought maybe those would be great for dessert.”

“You’re in luck.”

“Oh my gosh, Lisa, you are a godsend.” Catie gasps as Lisa hands her a crisp bag containing the strawberry crepe. Lisa gives Catie a smile. She starts to pull out her card when Lisa speaks up.

“No, no. It’s on the house.”

Catie lifts her head in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“Of course! One free order isn’t going to break the business.” Lisa says, shaking her head. “Plus, I’m the owner. I can make those decisions.”

Catie smiles. “Well, then in that case,” Catie reaches for her wallet and pulls out a twenty. “A little tip.”

“Catie..” Lisa sighs. “You don’t-”

“You’re the best, Lisa. You deserve it.” Catie says as she puts her wallet back in her purse. “See you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here.” Lisa says. “Have a good day Catie.”

“You too.”

Making her way back outside, she starts heading towards her car when she hears someone calling her name from across the street. Looking up from her purse, she sees Rossi across the street waving his hands in the air. A smile spreads across Catie’s face and she waves back. Rossi starts to make his way across the street. Seeing a car coming down the street at a high speed, Catie dropped her coffee and the strawberry crepe before running out into the street.

“Rossi, watch out!” She shouts. Shoving him out of the way, he falls to the pavement between two parked cars as the other car hits Catie. Hearing screams from people nearby, Rossi turns over to find Catie lying in the middle of the street.

Pulling himself off the ground, he limps over to Catie and kneels down beside her. “Catie?” He says feeling her neck for a pulse. He sighs in relief as he finds it. It was weak but still there. “Somebody call 911!” He shouts. “Catie? Catie, can you hear me?”

//

Spencer runs up through the bullpen and up the steps to Emily’s office and busts through the door. Emily quickly lifts her head. “Everything okay?”

“Rossi..said..he’s been trying..to call you…” Spencer says as he tries to catch his breath. “It’s Catie..”

Without another word, Emily sprung up from her chair and ran out of the room. Seeing that Emily forgot her purse and keys, Spencer quickly swipes them off the desk and runs out after her.

Getting to the hospital, after breaking every law of the road there is, Emily met Rossi in the main lobby. Krystall was by his side in seconds. “Oh my sweetheart, what happened?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Rossi says shaking his head.

“Where’s Catie?” Emily asks.

“Surgery?”

“S-Surgery? For what?” Emily says. “What the hell happened?”

“I was out picking up lunch for Krystall and I when I saw Catie across the street. She was coming out of the coffee shop. I called out to her and waved. I was stupid and started crossing the street to go talk to her. The next thing know she’s running towards me and shoves me backwards. When I turned over on the pavement, there she was lying on the ground. A car was speeding away but I didn’t get a good look at it. I was more focused on Catie.”

“She-She was hit?” Emily stammers. “Oh god..”

“Hey, hey.” Spencer says as he quickly grabs her before she falls. “Let’s get you in a chair.” He adds as he and Matt help her into a chair.

“I knew something was going to happen.. I knew it.” Emily says.

JJ walks over to rejoin the group after speaking with a nurse. “So I was able to get an update on Catie.” She says. “Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get the extent of her injuries but she’s still in surgery. There were a few complications but they hope to be out soon.”

“I need to call my mother..” Emily says. “God forbid someone sees the news and tells her before I do, she’ll throw a fit.”

“I will handle that.” A voice spoke. They all collectively looked towards the direction of the voice to see Aaron standing not too far away.

“What..” Emily spoke in utter surprise. She stands up from the chair and walks over to him. “How..”

“I got a call from Garcia. I was already in the area so I had her give me the name of the hospital Catie was at.” Aaron explains before wrapping his arms around Emily. “She’s going to pull through.”

Emily was never one to cry in front Aaron. She hardly cried in front of her team, except for once and that was at Haley’s funeral. However, this time was different. She couldn’t hold it in. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried. Letting it all out.

A couple hours had slipped by before one of the surgeons came out to the waiting room. “Well, Catherine is definitely loved.” He spoke.

“Dr. Hale?” Emily says standing up from the table. “You were in there?”

“They needed a general surgeon to fill in for cardio. As soon as they had brought Catie in, I scrubbed in. I had her once for her appendix, so I was the most familiar with her.” Hale says. “And this surgery went slightly better than we expected. She is in a medically induced coma to let her body heal on its own.”

Emily nods her head. “Can I see her?”

“Of course,” Hale says nodding his head. “For now, we’re only allowing family back.”

“But we are her family.” Penelope whimpers.

“It’s okay, P.” JJ says. “Catie’s just fine.”

“I’ll keep everyone updated.” Emily says. “When she’s awake and feels well enough to talk, I’ll make sure to facetime you all.”

“Let me show you to her room.” Hale says as he directs Emily back to the room.

As she sits there in the ICU room, staring at her unconscious daughter, Emily begins to think back. Specifically to the day that Catie was born.


	2. Birth Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Emily sits beside her daughter in the ICU room, she reminisces on the day Emily went into labor and gave birth to Catie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of a home birth.

August 3, 1994

“Emily, you really need to sit down and relax.” John says as he follows Emily through the kitchen.

Emily is thirty-six weeks pregnant. Swollen ankles, swollen stomach. She refuses to settle down until the townhouse is completely cleaned and ready for the baby. She doesn’t care if she goes into labor early. Her baby is perfectly healthy. The doctor even said the baby could come early. Which meant the apartment needed to be cleaned and organized.

“I’m fine, John.” Emily says as she wipes down the kitchen counter. “If I don’t get this done, I will be so overwhelmed between a messy apartment and a newborn baby crying every five minutes.”

“Then let me do it.” John says.

Emily shoots him a glare. “No.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t clean like I do.”

“Oh come on.” John says rolling his eyes.

“I refuse to let you clean.” Emily says. “You always miss something.”

“At least take a break for a little while. You’ve been on your feet all day.” John says as he takes the cloth towel from Emily.

Emily huffs. “Fine.. I’ll go sit..” She says as she turns around and makes her way into the living room.

As soon as she sat down on the couch, she felt the relief in her feet as the weight was lifted. She sighs as she lays herself back against the couch. Part of her agreed that John was right. She needed to stop and take it easy. She also knew that if she kept moving, it could possibly kickstart labor. Most times she loved being pregnant. Feeling the baby kicking or moving around. All she wanted was to be a mother. At fifteen? No. But eventually? Yes. And here she was now. From the swollen stomach, to the giant cankles, and her enormous breasts. Now she was ready to hold her baby in her arms.

Groaning and rolling her eyes, she calls to John. “John!”

“What? What?” He says running into the living room. “Is it time?”

“No.. I need to pee.” She says. “Please help me.”

He chuckles and walks around the couch to help her to her feet. “Need help to the bathroom?”

“No..” Emily sighs. “I think I got it.”

Coming out of the bathroom a few minutes later, she starts making her way back to the living room when she feels a sharp pain in her stomach. She doubles over and as she tries to hold herself up on the wall. It soon subsided and she was able to take a few more steps before another hit. Hearing Emily cry out, John leaves the kitchen to find her gripping the banister of the staircase. Her knuckles are completely white.

“Time?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Okay, okay.” John says, running upstairs. He retrieves her hospital bag and runs back downstairs. “Alright, let’s head out.” He says. Emily shakes her head. Her grip tightening even more on the banister. “Em, I know it hurts, but we gotta get moving.”

“Call an ambulance.”

“What? Why?” He says setting the bag on the floor. He kneels in front of her. “What’s going on?”

“The baby is coming.” Emily says.

“I know, that’s why we have to go.”

“John,” She says, grabbing the collar of his shirt. “The baby is coming.” She growls through her teeth.

“But Arthur isn’t here.”

“Just call the fucking ambulance.” Emily says. “And roll up your sleeves.”

“Oh.. Uh, okay.” John says as he runs back upstairs to retrieve some towels while trying to call for an ambulance.

“John!” Emily shouts. “Hurry!”

John quickly runs downstairs with a stack of towels. “Ambulance is on its way.” He says. “What do I do?”

“Guide the baby out.” Emily says.

“Okay,” John says as he tries to convince himself that this was all a dream.

//

“Here’s your sweet baby girl.” The nurse says as she carefully hands the new bundle to Emily. “She’s just the calmest baby I’ve ever met.” The nurse continues. “And I’ve been here for twenty years.”

Emily smiles as she looks down at her daughter. Immediately the baby was gripped tightly on Emily’s index finger.

“Have you thought of a name?” The nurse asks.

“Catherine.” Emily responds, not tearing her eyes away from her baby. “Catherine Elizabeth Prentiss.”

“Pretty name.” The nurse says with a smile.

It’s been a week since Emily had Catherine. How she got blessed with such a quiet and calm baby, she will never know. She couldn’t believe how easy Catherine was. The only time she cried was when she was hungry or needed a diaper change. Other than that, she rarely fussed. She was such a happy baby. Always smiling and giggling.

One thing Emily loved to see was how Catherine’s father was when he was around her. He wasn’t a tough Marine, he became a soft and loving father. Emily and Arthur met in D.C. at her mother’s office. He was attending the state dinner as an honoree. They had accidentally bumped into each other and his chocolate cake covered her chest. They hit off instantly and were together for a couple years before breaking up. He was being moved out to the West Coast and Emily didn’t want to go with him. She had just graduated from Yale and was starting to work on her career, whatever that was going to be. But just a month after they split, Emily had found out she was pregnant. Arthur had been able to work out a transfer back to D.C. to be closer to Emily and his child. Help Emily when she needs it throughout her pregnancy and co parent when their child is born.

Arthur is completely wrapped around his daughter’s finger. Emily knew he would do anything for Catherine. Anything to make or keep her happy.

“She loves you.” Emily says as she watches Arthur rock Catherine in the recliner.

“She’s got a death grip on my shirt.” Arthur chuckles. Emily giggles. Catherine's eyes start to open and she looks around. Her eyes land on Emily and a smile spreads across her face. “She’s looking at you.”

Emily cocks her head at Catherine. “She’s not looking at me because she loves her mama, she’s looking at me because she filled her diaper.”

“Seriously?” Arthur says as he shifts Catherine and smells her diaper. “Oh gosh.. Yeah, she totally did.”

Emily laughs. “Good luck papa.” She says getting off the couch and disappearing into the kitchen.


	3. First Steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily thinks back to Catherine's first steps.

Catie is eight months and super mobile. Over the time span of a week, Emily spent time baby proofing the house. Catie was discovering new places to get into. Kitchen drawers and bottom cupboards. Crawling under the coffee table and trying to get up the stairs. Emily ended up putting a baby gate in front of the stairs and the kitchen. Catie’s enemy. She hated when Emily would be in the kitchen with the gate closed so Catie couldn’t go in. She’d scream and cry. Most times she’d fall to her bottom on the floor and cry with tears streaming down her cheeks.

She was learning how to stand by pulling herself on the coffee table or the couch and sometimes the gate so she could see Emily better.

One day she was so close to walking but fell after one step. She’s getting better standing for a while on her own.

One morning, she really took Emily by surprise. While Emily was folding Catherine’s clothes and putting them away, she hadn’t noticed that Catherine pulled herself up using the crib. She had turned on her own and stood there for a while. As if she were debating if she wanted to try to walk again or crawl. Catherine saw her little, stuffed bunny lying on the floor by the dresser. Letting go of the crib, she takes a step forward with her arms outspread in front of her.

Catherine takes another step forward followed by another one. Soon she was easily making her way across the room towards the stuffed bunny on the floor. Finally reaching the bunny, she bends over and crushes the bunny in her tiny hand.

Emily looks over, Catherine’s dress falling from her hands. “Oh my gosh, are you walking?!” She exclaims.

A smile spreads across Catherine’s face. “Come here! Can you walk to mama?” She says extending her hands. Emily watches as Catherine takes a step forward, her bunny dropping from her hands. She took another step and soon she was taking more steps until she reached Emily.

“Stop growing!” Emily exclaims as she wraps her arms around Catherine and kisses her cheek. “Looks like your daddy is gonna have a surprise when he visits tomorrow.”

The next weeks that followed, Catherine was getting better at walking. She was even able to stand up on her own without needing to pull herself up on the couch and coffee table. Any time she fell, she got right back up or Emily was there to help her. She still didn’t like the gates blocking the stairs and the entrance to the kitchen.

Emily could remember when Catherine’s walking turned to running. She would watch her start walking through the backyard, but as soon as she spotted a butterfly or saw a flower, she’d take off running towards it. To Catherine, she was probably lightning speed, but to Emily? Catherine was just going as fast as her little legs could take her.

One Fall day, when Emily was off from work, she took Catherine to a pumpkin patch out in Virginia. She watched Catherine walk through the rows of pumpkins and touch each one as she went. She loved watching her try to pick up a pumpkin that was twice her size and get frustrated when she couldn’t pick it up on her own.

Once she would find one she liked, she’d come running back to Emily and tug on her pant leg. She’d point to the pumpkin and pout her little lip in hopes that Emily would buy it for her.

“Are you sure?” Emily would ask Catherine once they got to the pumpkin.

Catherine would eagerly nod her head before wrapping her arms around the pumpkin and laying her head on it. To this day, after taking a picture of her doing that, Emily had that framed photo sitting on her desk.

Catherine was such an innocent child then. Not that she isn’t now. Even at 27 years old, she’s still the same outgoing, compassionate person she was at just a year old.


	4. Skinned Knees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur, Catherine's father, shows up at the hospital. Realizing he can't do anything for her, like he could for something small, both he and Emily think back to a skateboarding accident.

Hearing a knock on Catherine’s ICU room door, Emily lifts her head from her book to see Arthur slowly and quietly sliding the door open. As soon as he looked at Catherine lying in the bed, his heart dropped in his stomach. Emily could see the pain in his eyes. She closes her book and gets up from the chair. She wraps her arms around him as he starts to break down.

“She’s okay.” Emily says before they pull apart.

Arthur quickly wipes his eyes. He hated letting people see him cry. One thing Catherine inherited from both of them. She hated crying when people could see her, so she’d try to hide it. Take in a deep breath and keep going as if nothing happened.

“It just sucks that I can’t fix her.” He says staring at his baby girl.

“I know..” Emily softly spoke. “It’s easy to help when she falls and scrapes a knee or her elbow but this? There’s nothing we can do except hope and pray that she pulls through.”

Arthur took a seat in the other chair next to Emily’s. He leans forward on his knees with his hands folded in front of him. “I remember when she was fourteen and wanted to learn how to skateboard and she asked me to teach her.”

“She knew better than to ask me.” Emily says making a smile crack on Arthur’s face.

//

“Daddy!” Catherine shouts as she runs down the stairs. She throws her arms around Arthur as he hugs her tightly. He had just gotten back to D.C. after six months of being overseas in Iraq.

“Hey Kitty.” He says chuckling.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Catherine says, pulling away from him. “Because I have a question to ask you.”

“You cannot have a cell phone yet.” Arthur says.

“Haha, very funny.” Catherine says, rolling her eyes. “No.. I got a skateboard for my birthday from Uncle Derek and I was wondering if you could teach me?”

“Of course I can.” Arthur says. “Good get your skateboard and meet me out front. I’ll take you to the skatepark.”

\--

Arthur watched as Catherine took off on the skateboard. She seemed to be doing good. That is until one of the wheels hit a small rock sending Catherine skidding across the ground. Arthur quickly runs over and helps her up.

“Are you okay?”

Catie nods her head as she limps over to the side. Her left knee was banged up and scratched pretty good. She had a few scrapes down her arms and on her hands from trying to catch herself.

“And this is why we wear padding.” Emily says as she walks over.

“When did you get here?” Arthur says.

“Not too long ago. You forgot to take the first aid kit.” She says as she hands the box over to Arthur.

Catherine rolls her eyes. “I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding.” Emily says.

“I said I’m fine.” Catherine says as she wipes her knees off with the bottom of her shirt. Arthur grabs some gauze padding and wraps it around her knees to keep the cuts from getting infected.

They both knew she wasn’t fine, but they also knew not to push it. Emily could tell that Catie was trying to keep herself from crying. She could never handle pain. The tiniest bit of pain and she was upset. Not always crying but clearly upset. The nasty fall she just took definitely was too much for her to handle but she refused to let them see her cry. Grabbing her helmet off the ground, she puts it back on before taking off on the skateboard again.

“She’s growing up so fast.” Arthur says.

“Shut up.” Emily says. “I hate that she’s growing up so fast.”

Arthur smiles. “No matter how old she gets or what she does with her life, she will always be our little girl.”


	5. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth comes to town to visit Catherine. Spencer recalls his many "therapy sessions" with Catherine.

For the past week, the team has been working on finding the driver in the hit and run. Emily hasn’t been to work. The director ordered her to be on leave until Catherine was alert and functioning on her own. Garcia had been able to pick up video feed of the incident. She refused to watch it again when she showed it to the team. 

“As you can see.. From the video..” Garcia takes in a deep breath.

“It was intentional.” Luke says. “But not intentional to Catie, but to Rossi.”

“Have you got a lead on the license plate?” JJ asks.

Garcia shakes her head. “Not yet. I’m trying to find other angles of the incident so I can get a clear view of the plate.”

“So someone was after Rossi but Catie got in the way.” Matt says. “And we have no idea who.”

“But who could possibly be after Rossi?” Spencer says.

“Plenty of people.” JJ says. “He’s put countless serial killers and such in prison. Our list is huge of people who could be going after Rossi.”

Tara walks into the briefing room putting her phone away in her pocket. “That was Emily. Catie still isn’t awake though, but doctors are hopeful that it will be soon based on the progress of her body recovering.”

“How’s Emily holding up?” Penelope asks.

“She’s struggling but grateful that Catie’s at least alive.” Tara says. “She also says it’s easier having Arthur there.”

“Has Andrew gotten there yet?”

“He was able to get some vacation time approved to fly in. So he should be here by the evening.” Tara says.

//

Walking back into the hospital with a coffee in one hand and a sandwich in the other, Emily saw her mother standing over Catherine and fixing her hair. “Mom?” Elizabeth turns around. “When did you get here?”

“Not too long ago.” Elizabeth says. “As soon as Aaron called, I worked some things out and got a flight here. How is she doing?”

“She’s still in a medically induced coma but doctors are hopeful that she wakes up soon.” Emily explains.

“How did this happen?” Elizabeth says. “Aaron didn’t tell me much. He said it wasn’t his place to explain.”

Emily sets the coffee and sandwich on the table. “She and Rossi had bumped into each other in the city.” She began to explain. “He started crossing the street to talk to her. According to him, she came running towards him and pushed him out of the street. Next thing he knew, she was on the ground and a car was speeding away.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I saw the video that Garcia was able to find of the incident… She saw the car coming towards Rossi and ran out…”

“She risked her life for him.” Elizabeth says, looking back at Catherine.

“She’s always been like that.” Emily says. “She’d do anything for the ones she loves.”

“I know she does.” Elizabeth says.

“I remember,” Emily began to talk. “A couple weeks after Spencer was out of prison, he was having an episode. He had called me while Catie and I were out grocery shopping. We headed over and I had told her to stay behind me after we had found the apartment in a complete mess.”

//

“Spencer?” Emily calls as they slowly walk through the apartment. “Stay behind me.” She says to Catherine.

Catherine hears movement in the kitchen. She leaves Emily and starts making her way over there. She immediately stops when she sees Spencer standing in the kitchen with a knife in his hand. Seeing Catherine, he holds the knife towards her.

“Stay away.”

“Hey, hey. It’s just me, Spencer.” Catherine says, holding her hands up.

“Catie, what are you doing?” Emily says behind her.

Catherine waves her away, but never tears her eyes away from Spencer. “Spencer, look at me.” He slowly lifts his eyes to look at her. “Look at me. It’s Catie.” She could see the realization slowly fill his eyes.

“Catie?”

Catherine nods her head. “Yeah,” She says. “It’s me Spence. There’s no one else here except me and mom.”

“But they were here.. And they were..”

“There’s no one here,” Catherine says, her hands still held out in front of her. “They’re gone. Okay? They’re gone.”

“They’ll always come back.” Spencer says.

“But they’re not here, right now, are they?” Spencer shakes his head. “That’s good. Now, give me the knife. Okay?”

Spencer slowly hands over the knife to Catherine who passes it on to Emily. “I kept having these dreams..”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Catherine says as she wraps her arms around him. “You’re okay. It was just a dream.”

//

Matt walks into the briefing room to find Spencer sitting at the table with a laptop in front of him. Tabs were open. They were all about statistics on the chances of someone waking up from a coma. “What are you doing?” Matt says as he takes a seat next to Spencer.

“Oh uh.. Thinking.”

“Catie will be okay.” Matt says. “She’s improving.”

“But she’s not awake yet.”

“I know..”

“She should be awake by now.” Spencer says. “Why isn’t she awake?”

“I don’t know..” Matt says. “But the good thing right now, is that she’s still awake.”

“I was thinking back on when I had gotten out of prison, I was out for a while and having these nightmares. I’ve been able to go to her to talk about whatever’s been bothering me. And I know she’s not a license therapist, but she’s just there to let me vent or get whatever’s bothering me off of my chest.”

“And you think that if she doesn’t wake up, you won’t have anyone to talk to?”

Spencer shrugs his shoulders. “I just don’t like going to a therapist. She makes it easier.”

“I understand.” Matt says nodding his head. “I think that if she doesn’t wake up, Kristy and I are out of a babysitter.” Spencer cracks a smile. “But obviously she’s more important than that.” He chuckles.

“She is good with kids though. She babysat a lot for JJ and Will when Henry was born, even Michael.”

“Which is why JJ told us to go to her when we needed a babysitter after Rosemary was born. Kristy wanted to go back to work and I’m usually gone. Catie didn’t hesitate.”

“She loves kids.” Spencer says.

Matt smiles. “I can see it in her eyes when she sees all the kids.” He pats Spencer’s shoulders. “Come on. Close the laptop.”

“Why?”

“To stop you from thinking. The more you look at that, the more you’re gonna think about her.” Matt says. “Let’s go get some food and talk.”


	6. Appendix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily recalls the last time she saw Catherine in the hospital.

The last time Emily had seen Catie in the hospital was when she was sixteen. Except then, she knew Catie would wake in a matter of hours.

//

Emily had just gotten home from a case. She was so preoccupied with the whole ordeal with Ian Doyle. However, all of that seemed to disappear as soon as she saw Catherine sitting on the stairs clutching her stomach. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “What’s going on?”

“I’m in so much pain.” Catherine cries.

“Okay, let’s get you to the hospital.” Emily says as she helps Catherine off the stairs and out to the car.

Getting to the hospital, Catherine was immediately taken back. A nurse soon came out to Emily. “You got her just in time.” The nurse says. “Catie has appendicitis. So they rushed her to the OR. As soon as I get any word, I will come tell you. In the meantime, just relax. Catie is in good hands.”

Emily could see the team coming down the hall to the waiting room. 

“What happened?” JJ asks.

“Is she okay?” Garcia chimes in.

“It’s her appendix.” Emily says. “They took her back immediately, she’s in surgery right now. But you guys didn’t have to come all the way out here.”

“Of course we had to.” Garcia says. “No ifs, ands, or buts. We are staying here until she comes out of surgery. Until then, I am going to buy some flowers.”

Emily smiles at Garcia and watches her quickly make her way to the gift shop. “Are you okay?” Hotch asks.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine.” Emily says waving her hand in dismissal. “Not as freaked out as I was when I found her.”

A couple hours had passed and they were able to go see Catherine. Walking into the room, a smile spread across Catie’s face as soon as she saw Emily.

“Hey baby.” Emily says as she sits on the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Very loopy.” Catherine says.

Emily smiles. “Yeah, you'll be like that for a little while.”

Catherine notices the rest of her mother’s team. “I see you brought the team along.”

“We actually came on our own.” Spencer says. “We wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I am a lot better than before.” Catherine says.

“And you look a lot better too.” Emily says.

“I remember having my appendix removed.” Derek speaks up. “Worst pain ever.”

“You don’t know pain until you’ve given birth.” JJ says laughing.

“Women do experience higher bodily pain than the average human.” Spencer says. He caught a glimpse of Derek’s face. “But I won’t go into statistics right now.” He continues making Catherine giggle.

//

“How is she?” Emily lifts her head upon hearing the voice. She sees Andrew standing in the doorway.

“She’s improving..” Emily says as Andrew pulls a chair over next to her. “Just wish she’d wake up. It’s worrying me.”

“Well I just spoke to the doctor. He’s seeing major improvement. The swelling on her brain has gone down a lot more.”

Emily nods her head. “Good.”

Andrew grabs her hands. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Emily says, shaking her head.

“Em..”

Emily hated how easily Andrew could see through her. He could pick up on her ques and know exactly what to do. Lowering her head, Emily covers her face with her hands. Andrew rubs her back before pulling her close to him. He could feel her body shaking as she cried. He let her cry it all out until she was done. Or at least done for now.

“I haven’t known Catie for long, but I do know you. And if she’s anything like you, she’ll pull through.” Andrew says.

Suddenly the monitors started beeping quickly and loudly. A few nurses ran in followed by Dr. Hale. “BP’s dropping.” One nurse says.

Dr. Hale walks over to Emily and Andrew. “I need you two to step out.” He says.

“What’s going on?” Emily asks.

“That’s what we’re going to figure out.” He says. “For now, I need you to leave.”

“Come on.” Andrew says as he pulls Emily out of the room.

Just seconds later, they could hear the long standing sound of the monitor losing Catherine’s heartbeat. Emily wanted to run back in but Andrew held her back.

“No!” She shouts trying to push him away. “Let me go!”

“You can’t go in there.” Andrew says as he holds onto her tighter.

“Can’t pick it up.” One of the nurses says. Dr. Hale stares at the monitor while still holding the paddles in his hands.

“Come on, Catie.” Dr. Hale says. “Come back to us.” Still no change.

“Dr. Hale.”

“One more time.” He says. “Charge to 300.” The nurse presses a few buttons. Hale rubs the paddles together. “Clear!” He shouts. They all move away and he presses the paddles to Catherine’s chest and side again. He looks back at the monitors. Seconds ticked by but it felt like hours. Soon her heart rhythm came back. He sets the paddles back on the table and lets out a sigh of relief.

“Dr. Hale.” The nurse says. She points to Catherine. Dr. Hale looks over to see Catherine’s eyes slowly opening.

“Welcome back.” He says. She immediately grabs his hand. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“What happened?” She asks. “Where am I?”

“You don’t remember?” Hale says. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I..” Catherine clears her throat. “I don’t know..”

“Do you know your name?”

“Catherine. Catherine Prentiss.”

“Good, good.”

“Do you know who the President is?” Catherine shakes her head. “What about the year?”

“2021.”

“Good. Do you know who I am?”

Catherine shakes her head. “No, I don’t..”

Dr. Hale looks over at the nurse. “I need you to page Neuro.”

“Why can’t I remember anything?” Catie asks.

“It might have something to do with the head trauma you experienced.”

“Trauma? What happened to me?”

“You were involved in a hit and run a couple weeks ago when you pushed someone out of the way.”

Catie closed her eyes as she laid her head back against the pillows. She kept trying to remember the accident. She would get flashes of it. An older man walking towards her across the street, a smile on his face. She sees the car driving down the road and suddenly she finds herself running out to the street towards the man and pushing him away. But then it all stops after that.

-

“What do you mean she doesn’t remember?” Emily says. “What does she not remember?”

“Her memory is spotty. She can remember the accident but she can’t remember who it is that she pushed out of the way. She doesn’t remember who the President is.” Hale explains. “She remembers her name and the year but that’s about all I know right now. I had Neurology paged to run some tests. I do want you to be prepared in the event that she doesn’t remember you.”

Emily sits down in a chair. “What do I do if she doesn’t?”

“Just be there. Keep her calm. Don’t overwhelm her.”

“Can I go see her?”

Hale nods his head. “Of course.”


	7. Catch & Save

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catherine begins to remember a couple things from her past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (read end notes)

Screaming, Catherine throws the photo album across the room. Tears fall down her cheeks. The door to her bedroom opens and she sees Emily walk in. “It’s okay.” Emily says as she grabs Catherine and wraps her arms around her.

“I can’t remember anything!” Catherine cries. “I keep trying but nothing is working!” She pushes Emily away and runs into the bathroom. She locks the door and sits on the floor.

“Catie, I know this is hard. But please, stop pushing me away. I’m trying to help you.”

“You can’t!” Catherine shouts through the door. “No one can! I lost everything!”

“No you didn’t, Catie. It’s still there and it all will come back.”

Catherine sat on the floor, with her knees pulled up to her chest. She rocked back and forth as she cried. She could hear Emily’s phone ring before she answered.

“Hey..” She sighs. “Yeah, I’m on my way.” She puts her phone away. “Catie, that was Garcia. I have to go.” Not receiving a word from Catherine, Emily stuffs her phone in her pocket and leaves the room.

“How is she?” JJ asks as she and Emily make their way to the briefing room.

“I walked in on her screaming and chucking a photo album across the room. She’s frustrated.”

JJ nods her head. “What did the doctors say?”

“It’s temporary.” Emily says.

“You hate it.”

“A lot.” Emily stops walking and faces JJ. “It sucks when your child doesn’t remember who you are. I mean… She knows I’m her mother, but she doesn’t remember anything. She doesn’t remember our trips to Paris or the many times we’ve stayed up watching movies and eating loads of junk food. It might seem like little things to you, but I want her to remember. The relationship we have now is just based on her knowledge that I’m only her mother, and that hurts.”

“She’ll remember.. But there’s always new memories to make.” JJ says. “Now come on. We need that big, beautiful brain of yours to help close this case.”

Emily chuckles. “Alright, I guess I can lend my big, beautiful brain for this case.”

//

Catherine bends down to pick up the photo album. A few photos had fallen out as the album was flung across the room. Picking them up, she looks at one of her and Emily. It looked like they were at a wedding. She couldn’t remember whose though. The photo underneath that one was of her and Emily, when Catherine was little. Maybe age five. At least that’s what Catherine was trying to figure out. Emily had Catherine on her back. Emily’s head was turned to look behind her at Catie, a big smile on her face. The third photo in her hand was one of her and Emily on a house porch, which looked like the first day of school.

\--

Walking down the hallway, Catherine hid behind Emily’s leg the whole way to her classroom. Catherine could feel Emily’s hand on her head. One way Emily soothed Catherine when she was nervous or overwhelmed. Arriving at the classroom, Catherine still stayed behind Emily. Even as the teacher approached.

“She’s a little shy right now.” Emily says. The teacher bends down to Catherine’s level.

“You must be Catherine.” The teacher spoke, her voice gentle and calm. “I love your dress. Do you like the color blue?” Catherine nods her head. “Blue is a pretty color.”

Emily bends down to and wraps her arm around Catherine. “I think I see a teddy bear.” She says. “I know you love teddy bears. Why don’t you go play with it?” Catherine shakes her head as she clings onto Emily’s shirt. “I promise you will have so much fun here. It’s only for a few hours and then I’ll be back to pick you up.”

Catherine looks at Emily, with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want you to leave, Mama.”

“I know you don’t, sweetheart, but you’re a big girl now and big girl’s go to school to learn how to read and how to write.”

“But we do that at home.”

“Well yes we do.” Emily says nodding her head. “But extra practice doesn’t hurt and that’s what Ms. Kitty is going to teach you.”

“Kitty?” Catherine says, her head perking up. “My daddy calls me Kitty.”

A little girl bounds over. “I love kitties.” She says. “We have two at home.”

“Allison, this is Catherine.” Ms. Kitty spoke to the little girl.

“I’m going to call you Cat.” The little girl says. “Because I can’t say, uh, Cat-uh-” She looks over at Ms. Kitty.

“Don’t hurt yourself, Allison.” Ms. Kitty giggles. “Can you show Catherine to her cubby?”

Catherine shakes her head as she hides behind Emily again. “Come on, Cat!” Allison exclaims. “And then after we go to your cubby, we can have a tea party. Mr. Teddy is patiently waiting for me to give him a cookie. He does not like to wait for anything, so we have to hurry.”

“Well go on.” Emily says as she nudges Catherine. “I promise time will go by so fast and I will be back before you know it.”

“You promise?”

“Of course I promise.” Emily says before she kisses Catherine’s cheek. “Now, go have some fun and learn so many new things and behave.”

“Okay.” Catherine says.

“High five.” Emily says as she holds up her hand. Catie slaps her hand. “That’s my girl. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“Come on! Quickly!” Allison exclaims as she grabs Catie’s hand and pulls her off to her cubby.

\--

Dropping to the floor, Catie stares at the photo. Did she really remember all of that?

“Hey, doing okay?” Emily says as she answers Catherine’s call. They were still en route to Los Angeles for a case.

“Ummm, do you remember my first day of Kindergarten?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Uh, because I do.”

“You do?”

“Yeah..” Catherine picks up the photo again. “I went to clean up the photo album and picked up photos that had fallen out.. There was one of me in a blue dress with you on a porch… At first I couldn’t remember what it was but then it hit me. Ms. Kitty, the teddy bear, the tea party. You had to go to work but I was so shy, I wouldn’t let go of you.”

Emily smiles. “I went to work with a wrinkled shirt and pant legs because you clung to me so tightly.” She chuckles.

“I know it’ll take time for me to remember, but you are my mom. You always will be and I love you.”

“Well I love you too.” Emily responds.

“One thing I do remember is the early morning that you came home from a case and held me tight. You learned of the death of a young girl who was my age at that time and it hit home for you. Then and even now. You can never lose me. Even if my memory is still messed up, you will never lose me as your daughter.” Catherine could hear Emily sniffle. “Am I making you cry?”

Emily clears her throat. “Just a little bit.”

“Well I mean every word I’ve said.”

“I know…”

“Well, I’m gonna let you go now. Catch and save.”

“Catch and save.” Emily repeated before they both hung up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of Mother's Daughter, but an open door to a sequel.
> 
> Keep an eye out for Mother's Daughter 2!


End file.
